The Donnelly Cycling team is back for the 2018/19 season after its first year under the Donnelly banner in 2017. The team returns two familiar faces but will be showcasing Donnelly’s new C//C cyclocross bike it unveiled at Dirty Kanza in June. Learn more about this year’s team in this release.
Donnelly Cycling rolled out its new Amy D Blue C//C cyclocross bikes over the weekend in Rochester. Returning team members Lance Haidet and Laurel Rathbun will be racing a full domestic schedule on Donnelly’s new cyclocross bikes and race-proven tires.
Haidet, the 2017 U-23 Cyclocross Champion, will be building upon a successful 2017 season of strong results with several wins and podiums. Haidet has spent his off-season racing with Team Aevolo, a road development team that has had a successful season at some of the biggest domestic races of the season including the Tour of Utah and the Colorado Classic. Haidet and his teammates rallied around Luis Villalobos to give the 20-year-old Mexican into the Best Young Rider jersey and the biggest story of the Tour of Utah. Prior to that, Haidet’s team swept the U-23 national road championships with both a TT and road race victory.
Lance Haidet raced for Donnelly last season. He returns again in 2018. 2017 Cincinnati Cyclocross, Elite Men. © A. Yee / Cyclocross Magazine
Rejoining Haidet in Donnelly’s signature red, white and black kits for her fifth season is Laurel Rathbun who moves out of the U23 category and up to the Elites. Like Haidet, Rathbun has spent much of her off-season road racing with Team Colavita. Late summer training has included a return to Marian University for track work with her Marian Cycling teammates as she enters her final college year.
“Racing on an Amy D. Blue bike presents an amazing opportunity to remind the cyclocross community and beyond what a strong, determined, funny and happy person Amy was and to carry on her legacy,” said Rathbun. “She possessed so many qualities that I admire. I’ll never forget an announcer once telling me that if I kept working hard, I could follow in her footsteps. That memory flashes through my head pretty regularly and is a terrific motivator.”
Laurel Rathbun returns to the Donnelly team for her fifth season with the program. 2018 Reno Cyclocross Nationals, Sunday. © D. Mable / Cyclocross Magazine
Cyclocross race fans will get a healthy dose of Amy D Blue this season as Donnelly just announced last week they would be sponsoring the Amy D Foundation developmental cycling program with the Amy D Blue framesets and tires. Additionally, Donnelly has pledged a portion of proceeds from the sales of those framesets and complete bikes to the Foundation.
Donnelly and the Amy D. Foundation team will be racing on the new Donnelly C//C bike this year. photo: Donnelly
The Donnelly Pro team will select from a quiver of tubular and tubeless-ready cyclocross tires depending on conditions and terrain. Among the tires the team will ride are the Donnelly LAS, the PDX, the MXP, and the BOS. The bikes will be built with FSA components including their new K-Force WE electronic groupset. Additional sponsors include Giro helmets and shoes, Vision, Lizard Skins, Selle Italia saddles, and Sock Guy.
For more information about Donnelly Cycling visit donnellycycling.com.
More about Amy D Blue and the Amy D Foundation
The Foundation—whose mission is to encourage and support young women through cycling—was established in 2013 by Dan Dombroski, following the tragic death of his sister, pro cyclocross racer known to many as Amy D (Dombroski). The tattoo of a lightning bolt Amy bore on her wrist in memory of her mother was incorporated into the Foundation’s logo along with its signature light blue color. When Donnelly Cycling owner, Donn Kellogg, was selecting colors for his new cyclocross frames, it only made sense that one of these colors be Amy D. blue.
